4-profit denver conference- communicating with the brain in mind

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4-Profit Leadership Forum | September 30 – October 2, 2013Inverness Hotel & Conference Center | West Englewood, Colorado

COMMUNICATE WITH THE BRAIN IN MIND

The Vision

The Reality

Communicate with the Brain in Mind

Our Brain is Organized

To Survive

To Minimize Threat

AVOID!

And to Maximize Reward

APPROACH!

Social Interactions operate the same way

Threat Reward

Physical and Social Pain

Threat State of Mind

LESS Insight, Creativity

Problem Solving Ability

MORE Risk Averse,Defensive, Cortisol

Reward State of Mind

MORE• Creative problem solving ability• Insight• ENGAGED• Dopamine

The SCARF Model

• Status • Certainty• Autonomy• Relatedness• Fairness

David Rock

SCARF Helps

Increase Reward and Minimize Threat

In ourselves and others

Status

Pecking Order, Self-Worth,Feeling Included

Status Reward State

A decrease in status feels like a threat to one’s life

Threats to Sense of Status

• Easy to accidentally trigger• Giving advice• Dismissing an opinion or minimizing an objection

Certainty

The brain is a pattern-recognition machine constantly trying to predict

the near-future

Lack of Certainty Generatesan Error Response in the Brain

Certainty is satisfying

“Creating” Certainty

A leader seeks to increase a sense of certainty in others when, in fact, there

is little

Clarity Reduces Uncertainty

Where are we going? How are we getting there? What should I do?

Creating Certainty Milestones

Breaking a complex project into small steps increases certainty

Autonomy: The perception of Choice

The brain likes to predict and have a say in the future

Autonomy

Increased autonomy feels rewarding

Reduced Autonomy

The inability to influence outcomes

Threats to Autonomy

“They won’t let us work from home anymore.”

“I just want to manage my own team!”

Relatedness

Insider or Outsider? Friend or Foe?

Relatedness

We like to belong“Friend” activates empathy in our

brains

Relatedness Threats

“Foe” is our default state

Threats to Relatedness

• Silos• Us vs. Them• During Onboarding

FairnessWe have a strong need to be treated

fairlyFairness is in the Eye of the Beholder

Lack of Fairness

Lack of fairness generates a significant threat response and feelings of disgust

Unfairness at Work

“There’s a different set of rules for them…”

“I have 10 more years of experience and I’m getting paid less than the new

guy!”

“How” Matters More Than “What”

Understand Yourself and Others

What Triggers Me

What Triggers You

My Behavior &Form of Expression

Your Behavior & Form of Expression

Creating Clarity Decreases Uncertainty

• Three things you don’t want to do that could increase the uncertainty

• Three practical things you want to do to decrease uncertainty

A. You had to fire a manager and a new one is being hired from the outside.

B. Sales missed Q1 goal and isn’t on track for Q2.

C. We might be losing a large long-term client.D. There have been a rash of service failures &

clients are upset.